Prison and Probation Services

This article will deal with both Prison and Probation Services in England and Wales as they are at present, and mention the slightly different systems in Scotland. Work is in hand to merge the services into a single National Offender Management Service, although it is unclear when this process will be complete.

Prison service

Overview

The current UK prison population is significantly over 76,000, and there is a shortage of places in the 139 prisons in England and Wales. Most are publicly operated but some are private, and different prisons may also have different levels of security to accommodate various types of prisoner.

Prisons are categorised on the security level of prisoner they can accommodate. Adult male prisoners are given a category, based on the chances they will try to escape, and the danger to the public if they succeed:

• Category A – an escape would be highly dangerous to the public or national security
• Category B – maximum security not required, but escape needs to be made very difficult
• Category C – unlikely to try to escape but cannot be trusted in open conditions
• Category D – trusted to wander freely but must attend daily roll calls.

Prison security categories for women are similar to those for males, while young offenders (under the age of 21) may be sent to:

• secure training centres – privately run, education-focused centres for offenders up to the age of 17
• local authority secure children’s homes – run by social services and focused on young people’s needs
• youth offending institutes – run by the prison service for 15–21 year olds.

Over 55,000 prison officers, instructors and governors manage prisons and linked establishments in Great Britain, with many of them working in the medical, welfare and administration fields. Each prisoner costs the tax payer nearly £30,000 a year, and the whole service runs at a cost of around £3 billion a year.

Prison officers’ duties include security and patrolling, counselling, reception, assessment of offenders before sentencing, escorting and some instruction. They need to be fit and able to work with people; they need to help prisoners to develop the personal skills and self-confidence necessary to re-enter society. Instructors supervise and train inmates in a wide variety of skills, with many prisoners working towards NVQs and SVQs. Managers run and manage prisons and units within prisons, although newly appointed governors will look after a particular function like security or staff training.

Prisons in the Services

The Military Corrective Training Centre at Colchester is the only military ‘prison’ in the UK, reserved primarily for people who the authorities believe could develop into good Servicemen and women despite their transgressions. Staff are drawn from all three Services and come from a wide variety of military backgrounds.

Service people thinking of working in the Prison Service should attend a two-week Potential Prison Officers Course, run at the Resettlement Training Centre at Aldershot. Each prison is responsible for recruiting its own staff; there is no shortage of applicants and preparation is valuable.

Employment

Vacancies for Prison Officers in England and Wales are generally advertised in JobCentres; in Scotland, the Scottish Prison Service recruits centrally. Applicants need to be aged between 18 and a half and 57 (20 to 57 in Scotland). They must also meet nationality regulations, be fit and healthy, have reasonable eyesight and be able to move house. They should not have a criminal record or be an undischarged bankrupt, and will undergo a security check.

Minimum entry qualifications are five GCSEs (grades A–C), including English and maths, or the equivalent (five S Grades (1–3) or three years’ experience of managing people in Scotland). Or they can pass the Prison Service entry test, as well as an interview and medical and fitness tests.

In English and Welsh prisons most instructors are specialists while, in Scotland, there is more scope to combine custodial duties with instruction and training. People employed as instructors should have a recognised apprenticeship in their trade and about five years’ experience.

Prison managers are selected from principal prison officers and by open competition from external applicants. The Intensive Development Scheme (England and Wales) is for outside applicants with an honours degree or equivalent, or selected internal candidates.

Career progression

While junior prison officers and instructors can expect to stay in one place, more senior officers and managers will be posted to wherever they are needed and there are suitable vacancies. Promotion is by exam, interview, simulated work programmes and selection.

Salaries

Prison Officers start at over £19,000, rising to over £26,000. Senior officers earn more than £29,000, and principal officers around £32,000. Shift allowances, London weighting and certain specialist skills pay are in addition. Instructors are on a similar scale. Managers’ salaries start at nearly £23,000, rising to over £77,000.

Probation service

Overview

An offender on probation will be supervised and supported by a probation officer when:

• given a community sentence
• the Parole Board releases them early from jail
• they are automatically released from prison after serving three-quarters of their sentence.

Offenders on probation must comply with the rules and requirements specified by court orders or release licences. If they break the rules they face disciplinary action, including the risk of being sent to prison. Other requirements may include:

• completing community sentences successfully
• completing alcohol and drug treatment
• staying in a probation hostel
• staying away from the area where a crime was committed.

A total of 70 per cent of the offenders currently on probation are serving community sentences, while 30 per cent have been in prison and are now on probation as part of their sentence.

Each year probation officers supervise around 225,000 offenders. Their role is to help:

• rehabilitate offenders
• enforce court orders and release licences
• conduct offender risk assessments
• resolve problems that may have led offenders to crime.

There are 19,000 probation officers in England and Wales, working in 42 probation services, commencing the supervision of some 175,000 offenders every year. They are involved with courts, supervise people placed on probation orders, and manage people sentenced to community service. A quarter of offenders serving community sentences are aged 16–20 and three-quarters are aged 21 and over. Probation management is the responsibility of social workers in Scotland so there is no separate probation service.

They can also work in prisons to help offenders and families cope with sentences and prepare for release. They also work with non-offenders to provide social work support in such areas as the welfare of children in family proceedings. They have an average case load on any one day of 210,000 (90 per cent male and 10 per cent female), prepare 250,000 pre-sentence reports, 87,000 early release assessments, 20,000 bail information reports, manage 100 approved probation hostels, and organise 8 million hours of community service each year.

Probation officers work office hours but must expect to be called out, and to share stand-by duties. They need to be flexible, have a sense of responsibility and clear judgement, and an ability to make objective appraisals. They must be sympathetic to the pressures on offenders, but able to establish control and trust, especially with hostile and resentful people.

Getting started

In England and Wales, probation officers need to be 22 years old (there is no upper limit) and to have a Diploma in Probation Studies (DipPS), combining an undergraduate degree with an NVQ4 in Community Justice, delivered by probation areas. Trainees are appointed to probation areas (consortia of probation services) on a training salary, and should attain the DipPS within two years.

Minimum entry qualifications are two A-levels and three GCSEs or three A-levels and one GCSE (under 21), five GCSEs (21 to 25), academic potential but no formal qualifications (over 25).

In Scotland, social workers need an honours or postgraduate degree in social work and must register with the Scottish Social Services Council. Courses include practice learning, with the degree normally taking four years at university, and will usually take account of relevant qualifications and employment. People normally need an ordinary or honours degree to start the two-year, full-time postgraduate course.

Career progression

In England and Wales, appointments are made by employing boards within the probation area, or they will assist the individual to find an alternative position in another service. In Scotland, Local Authority social work departments are responsible for working with offenders.

Salaries

Probation officers start at about £21,000, rising to nearly £29,000. (Trainees earn from £15,000 to £16,000 or so.) Unsocial hours payments and, London allowance may be made in addition.

Contact details

National Offender Management Service, Direct Communications Unit, Home Office, 3rd Floor, Fry Building, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF Tel: 020 7035 4848 Website: www.noms.homeoffice.gov.uk

Anyone interested in joining the Prison Service in England and Wales should contact their local prison or JobCentre for details. The Prison Service website is at: www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk

Scottish Prison Service, Calton House, 5 Redheughs Rigg, Edinburgh EH12 9HW Tel: 0131 244 8745 Website: www.sps.gov.uk

National Probation Directorate, 1st Floor Abell House, John Islip Street, LondonSW1P 4LHTel: 020 7217 0731 Website: www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk

Scottish Social Services Council, Compass House, 11 Riverside Drive, DundeeDD1 4NY Tel: 01382 207101 Website: www.sssc.uk.com

Probation Board for Northern Ireland, 80–90 North Street, BelfastBT1 1LD Tel: 028 9026 2400 Website: www.pbni.org.uk